Corruption

At its recent annual meeting, World Bank officials spoke extensively about corruption. It is an understandable concern: money that the Bank lends to developing countries that ends up in secret bank accounts or finances some contractors' luxurious lifestyle leaves a country more indebted, not more prosperous. James Wolfensohn, the Bank's previous president, and I are widely credited with putting corruption on the Bank's agenda, against opponents who regarded corruption as a political issue,...

BEIJING: China is investigating 14 of its senior military officers, including the son of one of its former top generals, for suspected corruption, state media said on Monday, the latest wave of Beijing's intensifying anti-graft campaign in the army . The Defence Ministry said one of the officers under investigation was Guo Zhenggang, the son of Guo Boxiong , who retired as vice chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission...

Mr Sachs goes further than this. In a study published earlier this year, he looks at tropical sub-Saharan Africa, where poverty seems most intractable, and challenges the popular idea that this is mostly down to poor governance. He cites other obstacles to Africa's growth, such as its extraordinary disease burden (it is hard to work when you are woozy with malaria), the lack of deep ports and navigable rivers, the infertility of much of its soil and the colonial legacy of borders that slice the continent into...

Apropos of 'Tackle corruption to fight terror' (ET, Dec 9), the author has narrated the facts on corruption nicely. His examples of corruption in passport offices, regional transport offices, property registration offices and customs are quite appropriate. The author's belief that corruption is at the root of terrorism is also quite correct. But like many other experts who have studied corruption in detail, the author has not offered any solutions to root out corruption in the society.

Infrastructure development is poised to take a giant leap as the Budget promises rapid construction of highways, ports, ultra mega power plants, airports and renewable energy projects with the help of massive public funding made possible by delaying fiscal belt-tightening. Analysts expect foreign direct investment, which has been lukewarm towards Indian infrastructure, to flow into the sector. The optimism stems from the belief that the promised...

NEW DELHI: The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has pointed out corruption and irregularities in the functioning of the Public Distribution System (PDS) in it several reports, Parliament was informed today. The government also said it has taken various steps for better targetting of food subsidies, removing bogus ration cards, ensuring timely availability of foodgrains, check leakages and introduce public accountability among others. "CVC in its various...

Corruption and inefficiency amongst public servants, especially among security personnel, are the root causes for terrorism in India. While India is trying its best with Pakistan and Bangladesh to curb terrorism diplomatically, it will be difficult to contain terrorism unless bureaucratic corruption and inefficiency are strongly dealt with. C R Bhattacharjee Kolkata, December 25

Everyone who participates in the state's political system is inevitably corrupted by it, or so it would seem. How else could a judge say with impunity that wine and women couldn't be seen as cor-ruptive influence since they didn't involve monetary benefit. Or a chief minister turn a blind eye to rioters outside his palace gates. Like Ayn Rand in Atlas Shrugged, he might just say --"we are on strike against martyrdom -- and against the moral code the demands it. We are on strike against those who believe that one man must...

Most, if not all, decision-making by governments at different scales in India is dominated by "regimes", in the way described by Floyd Hunter and Clarence Stone during their study of power structure in Atlanta . Now, key elements in policy-making are not limited to the formal government machinery, but reside in an informal partnership among several actors, all committed to bring about sustained economic growth. Regimes, therefore, are the durable and effective governing coalitions with a...

Sir, This has reference to the report 'Dy PM distressed over judicial corruption' (19 Jan). Delivering his valedictory address to the 7th all India conference of lokayuktas, lok pals and uplokayuktas in Bangalore, Mr Advani has said that the government would soon pass the Lok Pal Bill to facilitate establishment of the institution to check corruption in administration. Inaugurating the same conference two days back, Vice-President Bhairon Sing Shekhawat made a plea for erasing the dubious distinction...

MADURAI: The Madras High Court bench here has directed the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption to upload its crime manual on its website within six weeks, rejecing DVAC's contention that it was a privileged document and could not be made public. The manual should contain details about Government instructions and guidelines to investigating officers relating to corruption cases, Justice M Sathyanarayanan said in his order...

NEW DELHI: A former Assistant Director of Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has been awarded three years jail term by a court here for taking bribe from two employees of the authority for their transfer. Special judge Narottam Kaushal awarded the jail term, along with a fine of Rs 25,000, to Ved Prakash Gautam who had worked as Assistant Director (Work Charge Establishment). "Demand of bribe by its very nature is an act which is done secretly and...

BENGALURU: The city's municipal area may be carved up into 10 or 20 distinct municipalities with a regional authority overseeing it, the BS Patil panel on restructuring of Bengaluru is going to tell the state government. The committee will submit its report to the government in June. The committee is working out a plan to make each ward committee responsible for functions that could be tackled at the local level, like garbage. The ward committee will be...

KOLKATA: The BJP today charged West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee with maintaining a double standard in her relationship with corrupt and tainted persons, saying she moved around with them freely, but once they were arrested she quickly disowned them. The party demanded that she explain to the people her link with such "suspicious elements". "She always maintains a double standard in her relation with corrupt and...

NEW DELHI: The high-profile crackdown on corporate espionage, close on the heels of the BJP's dismal show in the Delhi election, is a well-thought out strategy of the Narendra Modi government to change the perception that it is too corporate-friendly. Top government sources and senior party leaders told ET that the action against some top business house employees sends a strong message to the people that the Modi government is equitable and will...

KATHMANDU: Nepal needs a new political force to combat corruption, India's Aam Aadmi Party spokesperson Ashutosh said today. Speaking at an interaction programme here with the reporters, Ashutosh said a new force like his party can reduce corruption in Nepal. Ashutosh presented his party, which won an astonishing victory in the recently concluded Delhi assembly elections on the back of an anti-graft movement, as an example of success against...

BEIJING: Fireworks illuminated the skies across China as millions around Asia ushered in the Year of the Sheep Thursday, kicking off festivities with an annual televised gala that got a thumbs down on social media for heavy Communist Party preaching against corruption. China officially counts the New Year as starting from January 1 but culturally its citizens place greater importance on the lunar computation of days, reflecting...